Long, Sharp Cutlery Too Dangerous For Domestic Use?

Long, Sharp Cutlery Too Dangerous For Domestic Use?

I came across some articles the other day looking for sources for knife roll ups that Emergency and Trauma physicians in the UK have made a recommendation a few years ago that long, sharp cutlery should be banned due to deep organ damage. That was the result of a study of injuries and assaults associated with kitchen knives. The study consulted with professional chefs that concluded there is no reason for the general public to have any need for a long, sharp knife that has a pointed end. I can agree that a point on a chef's knife is generally useless except for the narrowing contour it gives for rock chopping given other specialty knives being better suited for the same purpose. Yet a boning or fillet knife a point is absolutely necessary in a 6"-7" or so blade. I probably can do without the Chef's, or at least work with something heavy like one with heavier blade and round end. It wouldn't be much of a loss to me outside the boning knife if such laws were adopted here.

I only bring this up, because ignorant, professional, recommendations like this give politicians and advocacy groups with idle minds a devil's playground and gain traction if decisions by CPSC of recent years in the name of protecting us from ourselves are any indicator. While the logic of knife wound statistics isn't the same here with the UK and parts of the EC having a virtual ban on handguns and knives there are primary assault weapons unlike the states. This reasoning can eventually affect the EC member states where most quality knife manufacturers reside and impact their products.

Knife control very well may be the next frontier given Homeland Security's/TSA already preoccupation with them of any kind as weapons. I cannot for the life of me comprehend why a professional chef would consider that chef's or boning knife has no business in a domestic kitchen and the public really has no need for such a utensil here in the states as they did in the UK. There have been no laws that I know of passed there yet, but it's probably just a matter of time and a few very well publicized incidents much like they did with stove top chip pans suddenly becoming a lethal threat to the public to push it into law.

If you end up injuring your "deep organs" while using a kitchen knife of any kind, you probably should have it taken away from you. I mean, seriously...I've been cooking for 30 or so years, and I can honestly say I have never once come anywhere close to accidentally stabbing myself in the abdomen while chopping anything. Cuts on my hands, sure. I can even see where you might accidentally cut off a finger. But organs? What the heck are these people doing??

As for assaults...well, yeah. People tend to stab other people with larger knives. Do they also want to ban hunting knives? Are only professional butchers to be allowed to process a deer? Because you can take away all the kitchen knives you want, but if someone still owns a blade capable of gutting a deer, they can surely use it to gut a person.

Well, let's do these in their proper order: 1. Ban all types of guns, even squirt guns, since they could be filled with acid. 2. Ban all swords, axes, hatchets and tools with a sharp edge. 3. Ban all knives, except table knives. 4. Ban all needles, except knitting needles. 5. Ban all scissors, except blunt kindergarten scissors. 6. Ban all types of hammers, including sledge hammers. 7. Ban all bricks, cement blocks and stones weighing over 1 pound. 8. Ban all skillets and cast iron pots. 9. Ban all insect sprays, acids (including vinegar), lye and toxic chemicals. 10 Ban all vehicles that could run over or hit a person. 11. Ban all objects a person could fall from (airplanes, ladders, roofs, etc) 12. What else have we forgotten?

I probably mentioned this before, but, I believe caulking guns should have been included in the Brady Bill. Sometimes a homeowner can do just as much damage with a caulking gun as a Saturday Night Special.

Ban all verbal and Internet communication, as it could be used to talk someone into jumping off a bridge! Ban the use of hands, as it's been proven they have been used to choke people. Ban all sex as it can lead to Prostitution. Ban all trees as they frequently fall on people Ban all boats as people fall off them and drown. Ban all laughing, as it can lead to coughing, which can lead to choking Ban all Post Offices, as people frequently go there and shoot co workers Ban men and women, as they commit most of the crimes here. Much more is needed here!